For many of us, the end of semester one is characterised by long hours in the library, not seeing daylight, and coming home to a cold flat — all in all, a rather depressing period. Thankfully, Christmas comes along as a beacon of hope, a reason to push through finals and start listening to joyful music instead of sadness-inducing autumnal folk songs.
There may be grumbles that Christmas starts earlier and earlier each year (it is a bit ridiculous seeing baubles for sale next to Halloween decorations) but if your flat will be apart for the festive season, then there is no excuse to hold off the celebrations. Hosting your own Flatmas is the perfect way to break up studying and spend some time with your closest friends.
Central to a traditional British Christmas is the roast dinner, but all the dishes can add up. An affordable alternative to a meaty centrepiece is a vegetable wellington or nut roast. Simply combine the cooked vegetables — mushrooms, leeks, spinach —with chestnuts, cheese, and breadcrumbs. Then add this tasty filling in a log shape across a shop-bought sheet of pastry, for ease, and roll the pastry around the filling. Seal the ends with a fork, brush with egg yolk and milk, and bake until golden and flaky. Don’t skimp out on spices, such as garlic and thyme, as a way to cut costs without cutting flavour.
If your flat is blessed with an air fryer, you can get a full roast without turning on the oven, to save on energy costs. There is whole world of air fryer recipes to be explored, with tender chicken breasts, crispy potatoes, and caramelised vegetables frequently coming up as tried and tested favourites. With some frozen peas and a jug of gravy, made only with granules and boiling water, the meal comes together easily and — crucially, for students — cheaply.
A fun way to organise Flatmas is as a potluck. If the components of a roast dinner are split between a few people, with someone taking charge of the tatties and someone else the carrots, then you only have to worry about cooking one dish while still getting the benefit of the full meal. This is a great way to split the costs, save on oven space, and take some pressure off.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Christmas celebration without dessert. If baking isn’t your forte, check out the seasonal aisles at Aldi or Lidl for an affordable festive sweet treat, such a yule log, though do check your flat’s policy on open flames before lighting brandy over a Christmas pudding! If you want to spend more time in the kitchen, a fruit crumble is easy to cobble together and no matter how badly it goes wrong, can never taste bad.
Cooking might be central to Flatmas, but there are other things to consider too. For example, take a trip to Poundland, Argos, or some charity shops to find some tasteful tinsel and baubles (or tacky, depending on your style). Along the same lines as a potluck, arranging a Secret Santa and setting a limit of £10 or £15 means you don’t have to worry about getting everyone a present.
All of this is to say, as Charles Dickens would have wanted, a successful Christmas depends not on how much you spend but on who you spend it with.
Photo by Libby Penner on Unsplash.